METHODOLOGICAL GUIDELINES FOR TEACHING THE PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE IN PRE-SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ANGOLA

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a qualitative study entitled "Methodological Guidelines for Teaching Portuguese in Preschool Education in Angola." The research is based on an analysis of the curriculum for the Linguistic Communication and Children's Literature curriculum for the introductory class, which corresponds to the final year of the preschool education subsystem in Angola. The objective is to determine the objectives, content, and methodological proposals for developing skills in Portuguese, both as a native language (PL1) and as a non-native language (PL2).

The results indicate that the curriculum aims to enrich vocabulary and improve comprehension and oral expression based on children's existing knowledge. However, the curriculum lacks specific content to achieve these objectives, neglecting essential skills such as morphological and phonological awareness, and grammatical construction, which are fundamental to language mastery. Furthermore, the formulation of the objectives and the lack of differentiation between PL1 and PL2 assume that all Angolan children communicate in Portuguese as their native language, which fails to reflect the country's sociolinguistic reality. The majority of the population speaks other languages as PL2, and due to the low level of education, many children have a weak command of Portuguese, especially in rural and peri-urban areas.

The lack of specific objectives and content for PL1 and PL2, as well as the lack of methodological proposals for teachers, hinders teaching and contributes to problems such as excessive repetition and early school dropout. Furthermore, children with low proficiency in PL2 and with PLE face greater learning challenges. These gaps in the curriculum reflect a discrepancy between planning and the country's real needs.

The article suggests the need for collaboration between the Ministry of Education (MED), educators, linguists, pedagogues, and other stakeholders to create a curriculum plan that reflects differentiated proposals for PL1 and PL2, allowing for flexibility and adaptation to the Angolan context. The research also highlights the importance of active methods, such as word games, mime, storytelling, role-playing, dramatization, and others, for the playful development of Portuguese skills in preschool education, which is crucial for children's future academic and professional success.